Authorities in New Zealand have set up two temporary morgues, as the death toll from Cyclone Gabrielle, the country’s most damaging storm in decades, climbs to eight.
A second volunteer firefighter, Craig Stevens, died in hospital after being caught in a landslide near Auckland earlier in the week. A body was also found near Napier on Friday morning, police confirmed. Officials have warned that the toll is likely to rise further.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins toured the Hawke’s Bay region on Friday, saying “the whole country” was feeling for communities affected.
“There are some people who are in a very, very fragile state.
“I just ask people to keep going, you know, we will get through this. We will come out the other side of it. But it is an exceptionally challenging circumstance at the moment.”
Severe storms have cut off entire towns, washed away farms, bridges and livestock, and inundated homes, stranding people on rooftops. Ten thousand people have been displaced and by Thursday afternoon, 3,455 people had been registered by police as “uncontactable”, though some were likely to be multiple reports for the same person, authorities said.
Temporary morgues have been set up in Napier and Hastings as part of “standard practice”, a police spokesperson told news outlet Stuff.
“The facilities have been established as a precaution to ensure that any fatalities can be managed with care and respect, and in accordance with coronial processes. They are held there before being taken to a mortuary,” police said.
The Prime minister, Chris Hipkins, arrived in Napier on Friday morning. “When you look from up on the hill at the extent of the damage it really is confronting just the true extent of the challenge that these guys have got in front of them,” he told a reporter for the New Zealand Herald.
Hipkins also said there was no evidence to support claims of much higher death figures or or injuries, RNZ reported.
“It’s no good to anybody speculating about how many people may have been injured or how many people may have died in this tragedy,” Hipkins said.
“We will certainly share that information as soon as we can but I have heard some outlandish claims out there at the moment that there is no evidence to support.”
Communication and access to a number of areas remained difficult, while surveillance flights were being undertaken to survey the damage and identify those who may be isolated. Convoys of trucks carrying essential items such as food, water, medicine and fuel were making their way into remote areas and the defence force is using ships to transport needed items into areas of the east coast.
Among the people confirmed dead earlier this week was a two year old girl named Ivy, who was swept away by the water and drowned. Her mother, Ella Louise Collins, recounted the death of her daughter, writing in a Facebook post, “The water was about 10 centimetres from the ceiling in our house and rose extremely quickly and violently”.
The family of four tried to escape to the safety of a neighbour’s roof, but were stopped by what she called “a sudden torrent of water which almost drowned us all”, and pulled Ivy away.
Collins said “she died very quickly.”
“Please give us time while we ground ourselves and navigate this impossible time.”
On Thursday Hipkins warned that there were some people for whom the police still held “grave concerns”, but added, “We believe the majority of those considered uncontactable simply cannot make contact with loved ones, so police are prioritising those who are in isolated areas.”
Urban search and rescue team leader Ken Cooper said one man had walked 70km from Putorino to Napier to give rescue workers help with their missions.
“That’s a day-and-a-half walk,” he told Radio NZ. “He walked to give us a list of people still trapped up in the east coast.”
In Hawke’s Bay helicopters and boats were being used to check on people in isolated communities, while search and rescue teams continued to operate.
Rescue efforts were likely to be boosted by news from MetService that it no longer had any weather warnings in place in New Zealand and sunshine was forecast for most of the North Island.
Reuters contributed to this report
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMie2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWd1YXJkaWFuLmNvbS93b3JsZC8yMDIzL2ZlYi8xNy9jeWNsb25lLWdhYnJpZWxsZS1uei10ZW1wb3JhcnktbW9yZ3Vlcy1uYXBpZXItaGFzdGluZ3MtZGVhdGgtdG9sbC1uZXctemVhbGFuZNIBAA?oc=5
2023-02-17 12:38:00Z
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